Are You Ready for Your Close-Up? What's Behind This Insatiable Desire for Fame

By Mike Robbins

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Are you craving your 15 minutes of fame? Here are three ideas to help you look beyond the smoke and mirrors and find your authentic self.

Tell the truth about your own secret desire and motivation for fame and attention. Most of us have some secret (or not so secret) desire to be famous or at least to get more attention than we're currently getting. You may want to be on TV to get more recognition at work, to have more friends on Facebook or something else that will make you feel important. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to be acknowledged in some public way, the issue often has to do with your motivation (it will make you happy or make you feel like you're somebody) and what you may be willing to do in order to gain this attention (sell yourself out, be selfish and hurtful to others or even lie, cheat and steal). However, this shows up in your life, and the more willing you are to admit it and own it, the less negative an impact it will have on you and those around you. As Sigmund Freud said, "We're only as sick as our secrets."

Focus on what you really want: Underneath thedesire for fame and attention are usually some deeper and more meaningful desires. Maybe you want to make a difference for other people in a profound way or you want to experience a profound sense of appreciation or you want to be bold and really step out in life. When you allow your ego to hijack your pure desires, you may turn them into superficial fantasies and erroneous notions. However, when you take a deeper look at what you really want and what's beneath the chase for fame, you will realize that these desires have nothing to do with gaining the attention of others. This change of heart can be incredibly liberating, empowering and exciting.

Have compassion for yourself and others: As you notice yourself and others getting caught up in the insatiable desire for more attention or for fame itself, see if you can have a deep sense of compassion. It doesn't mean you are bad for having these thoughts, feelings or desires. Given the nature of today's media culture and our own feelings of inadequacy, it makes perfect sense that everyone has some version of this obsession. However, when these things show up within you or around you, having compassion will allow you to more deeply understand yourself and others and give you the opportunity to be more authentic. When you go beneath the superficial desire for attention, you can focus on what you're really after, which is usually a sense of real appreciation for yourself, for the people in your life and for what truly matters.

Mike Robbinsis a best-selling author,sought-after motivational keynotespeaker and personal growth expert who works with people and groups of all kinds. Robbins is the author of the best-selling books Focus on the Good Stuff and Be Yourself: Everyone Else Is Already Taken. He and his work have been featured on ABC News, in Forbes, Ladies Home Journal, Self and many others.